Shoppers underwhelmed by retailer’s sluggish rates of tablet adoption
Tech-savvy consumers are becoming increasingly frustrated by the slow rate of adoption of new technologies amongst retailers as their home environments continue to diverge from the shop floor.
Whilst at home the average household now plays host to more than three types of internet enabled device on the analogue High Street it is a very different situation.
A survey of over 2,000 UK adults conducted by the Omnico Group found that a paltry 10 per cent of British shoppers had encountered a tablet when checking stock or making a payment, contrasting markedly with the welter of experiences on offer in the home - from smart TVs, tablets, e-readers and laptops to smartphones.
Quizzed on what they wanted to see from retailers over 50 per cent cited sales assistants equipped with tablets to check in-store inventory and stock levels in nearby outlets. Of those polled 52 per cent also wanted access to a tablet to elicit when stock would be replenished and 24 per cent also wished for easy payment methods through such gadgets.
Steve Thomas, CTO of Omnico Group said: “Out-of-stock products combined with a lack of information on when or if they will be replaced is clearly a major bugbear for British shoppers. Retail customers are not asking for the Earth; but rather for a fuss-free service that saves time, increases convenience and improves their overall experience. If customers can browse, check stock and pay on a mobile device from the comfort of their homes, then they should be able to do the same in-store, too.
“With many bricks-and-mortar formats continuing to struggle with footfall, retailers must offer an efficient, flexible service that fuses the best of traditional retail with a 21st century omni-channel strategy,”